Abstract
In this editorial, I shall discuss some of the paradoxes existing in business research and suggest ways to do forward-looking research. I draw your attention to a deep chasm that represents diversity—some desirable and some avoidable—that either fosters meaningful research or stifles contribution. On the one hand, business researchers, while seeking solutions to some of the organizational crises, remain deeply divided over their priorities and approaches. They remain engaged in the problems that have immediate implications in the practicing world while turning their attention away from bigger societal challenges. This arguably stems sometimes from a lack of tenacity to hold the bull by the horns and a lack of incentivization for real and meaningful contributions. On the other hand, most academic researchers agree that they have a bigger responsibility to solving some of the grand societal challenges.
Who really cares about our contributions? I can state confidently that the major constituencies who hold a stake in business research keenly assess the quality and impact of our research. The real paradox is that some academicians believe that they are already a part of this ecosystem by their involvement in industry-specific research and consultancy. At the same time, other scholars stay somewhat insulated from the environment around them, by just focusing on teaching-intensive programs. Nevertheless, there is also an emerging consensus — a sense of resentment among academicians about the constant judgment their work is subjected to for relevancy. While it is a healthy practice to fix accountability and assess relevance and value of research studies, researchers deserve more time for identifying a relevant research problem and conducting research in a field that has a relatively longer gestation period, embedded in a resource-constrained environment.
This editorial underscores the incredibly valuable research that contributes to resolution of graver issues revolving around employee/consumer well-being, racism in workplace and service settings, loss of human/consumer dignity, consumer power, war, environmental sustainability in the face of widespread contamination of water and air, climate change, and threat to identity in the workplace, among others. Considering the ephemerality and vicissitudes of human life, the best and timely step could be to turn our attention towards the pressing issues that could endanger life on planet Earth.
Management and Labour Studies, in the last fifty years, has done its bit. However, like other reputed journals, we have a lot that we need to do to make a real difference to the place where we work, the firm we represent, and more importantly, the world that we live in. We have therefore taken a very conscious decision to look beyond the traditional research topics — though very well developed and productive — and now invite more researchers to invest in the problems of current times with ramifications for future generations before it becomes too late. The bright spot is that we are not in a state of hopelessness and therefore, we are not making a journey toward redemption. We merely are refocusing on some areas that remained unaddressed due to our oversight in the past. For instance, many academicians in business schools view the problems related to inequity and loss of self-dignity as the domain of sociologists, and threat to identity as the field of psychologists, and poverty as an area of economists. This is not necessarily correct. We, as researchers specializing in different fields of business and management, must see how these problems can be understood better and whether business firms and the practitioners abet some of these issues while pursuing their goals. For example, marketing firms might lower the self-dignity of consumers and people in general by pursuing a thin ideal advertising strategy (Bhattacharjee et al., 2025). Similarly, it is worth exploring whether technology fosters consumer well-being through longitudinal studies (Jain et al., 2025). In yet another example, I draw your attention to studies that show how adoption of voluntary simplicity could influence sustainability (Kuanr et al., 2021). There are several other research works that look beyond the common pool of research problems, which I call forward-looking research. I invite my colleagues to find effective solutions and interventions through their forward-looking research. I am thrilled to bring to you another interesting issue with a series of forward-looking articles.
This issue of MLS explores the varied factors that influence the employee attitude, improve the work environment and enhance leadership styles. It draws our attention to some new concepts that are still in the evolutionary stages of research. Articles examining the adoption of Electric 2 Wheelers and the operational efficiency of Indian firms contribute towards a diversified discussion in different areas of management.
In modern industrial operations where shift work is inexorable, occupational health of workers is often overlooked. Dr. Das and Dr. Palo in their study critically investigate the impact of sleep deprivation on the well-being of shift workers. The study links environmental, organisational and psychological factors that effect sleep patterns among shift workers. It proposes a comprehensive framework to understand the sleep quality among the shift workers that may help in reducing the stress levels.
The physical and psychological well-being of workers is also the focus of another study undertaken by Dr Pahari. He draws our attention to the deplorable job condition of workers in the tea industry, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors like safety perception and contagion risk were found to intensify the stress levels along with other factors like social exclusion, monetary loss and job uncertainty, and quarantine and restraint. The study also confirms strong association between stress and depression among tea workers at the onset of pandemic. The study contributes to literature on mental health issues and proposes framework for the development of appropriate interventions to ensure the well-being of already vulnerable communities during crisis.
High attrition intention among employees is a frequently debated topic in the human resource discourse. Dr. Jameel and co-author in their empirical study reveal that self-efficacy mediates the relationship of work engagement between supervisory support and turnover intention. Their study focuses on the high attrition intention of banking sector employees in Lahore. The research findings underscore the importance of support provided by the supervisors that can influence the employee’s decision to quit or stay in the organization. While this study focuses on supervisory support as a job resource, it calls for future research to discover other moderators that may increase employee work engagement.
While the employee attitude towards job remains a burning issue, leadership style also plays a major role in establishing a harmonious relationship between employees and the organisation. Richard Marcel and co-authors propose that a compassionate approach should be inculcated in the leadership style of school principals to improve the performance of teachers. The investigations of this study are conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic when organisations across the world were dealing with unpredictable circumstances and schools were no exception. The study proposes a theoretical framework of how compassionate leadership of school principals influences teacher work attitudes and job performance. It illustrates the compassionate leadership process through trust, positive emotions, and self-efficacy theories. The study analyses the relationships between compassionate leadership and teachers’ resilience, work engagement, psychological well-being, and job performance. The study proposes a model of the compassionate leadership process to ensure desirable work attitudes and performances of schoolteachers especially during crisis.
In a systematic literature review of Human Resources slack Dr. Rashidi and co-authors propose a model suggesting the effect of HR slack on organizational performance. The model introduces different types of human resources slack, which could range from value-oriented to knowledge-oriented to surplus-oriented to accumulation-oriented and could also be knowledge-based or non-knowledge-based and short-term or long-term period. The study calls for further research to explore ways to optimize human resource slack in human resource management measures.
Dr Karthikeya Ashoka and co-authors in their study investigate consumer behaviour towards the adoption of Electric 2 Wheelers in Tier 2 cities of India and study its impact on reducing carbon footprint. They present a theoretical framework to assess the reasons behind the adoption and non-adoption of E2Ws in these cities. The result of the study enunciates key motivators and inhibitors of E2W adoption and provide a framework to promote mass adoption of these vehicles. The study makes a significant contribution to management practices by providing strategic insights for marketers.
The recent turbulence faced by the Indian public sector banks makes it pertinent to examine the operational efficiency of these government institutions and assess the health of these banking systems. Dr Sayantan Kundu and co-authors analyse the operational efficiency of Indian scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) comprising public sector banks (PSBs) and private sector banks (PVBs). The findings of the study suggest that while the total factor productivity of PSBs has improved over the last decade, a relative decline in performance is noted when compared to PVBs. This research draws attention towards the relative inefficiency of PSBs and emphasizes on the need for government intervention in this sector.
The research articles published in this issue exhibit a well-thought-out analysis of some of the contemporary managerial dilemmas and organizational challenges. The research work adds immensely to the existing body of business and managerial knowledge and advances propositions for future academic investigations, a true reflection of forward-looking research. I express my gratitude to the authors, reviewers, editorial review board members, and readers for their contribution and constant support. I invite you again to submit your best work to Management and Labour Studies.